There are extreme places on Earth where no one would believe life could exist… but it does and not only that, it is thriving.
In the deepest, darkest, coldest and hottest places on our planet, there is life no matter how improbably, inhospitable and absurd the habitat is. If you are feeling adventurous here you will find some extreme places to visit. Join our unusual journey to five extreme locations on Earth, where life thrives.
#1 Yellowstone’s Hot Springs
The spring at Yellowstone park are acidic enough to dissolve anything and close to the boiling point. But some microbes love extreme points on Earth like this one where they choose to live. These microbes not only thrive in the acidic springs but also give them their distinctive vivid colors. There are several types of microbes and bacteria that call these hot springs their home. One of them is archaea, single-celled organisms discovered in the 1970s.
#2 The Galapagos Islands
The Galapagos Islands are a dream destination for many tourists and one of the most extreme places to travel. They are known for the place which inspired Darwin’s theory of evolution but the absurd thing is these islands are almost entirely inhospitable to life. Actually, they are the tops of still-active volcanos that emerged from the Pacific Ocean. Still, bacteria and microorganisms find these islands perfect for life.
#3 The Death Valley National Park
The Death Valley surely deserves its name. It is the lowest, driest and hottest place in the United States and one of the most extreme places on Earth. Definitely not a great place for a fish. However, several species pupfish still live here, they are the last survivors of lakes that dried thousands of years ago. They inhabit the springs, salty marshes and underground waters. These pupfish are some of the rarest animals in the world.
#4 The Antarctic
The Arctic and the Antarctic are the coldest places on our planet. The polar winters there are incomparable with anything you have experienced. But the emperor penguins spend months in extreme temperatures, without light and eating, while incubating eggs. They huddle together to keep each other warm and they can drop their metabolic rate to survive.
#5 California’s Iron Mountain
The Iron Mountain in California is famous for the mining of precious metals in the 1800s. However, the minerals and metals originated in the roots of a volcano where there were deposits of sulfide. The mines exposed to sulfuric acid and other heavy metals like arsenic. But plenty of microbes live in the mine’s lake which resembles a toxic soup. They thrive here eating iron and making the environment even more acidic.
These five places are some of the most extreme locations on our planet and still, some animals and microbes feel great there. This comes to show how amazing, unexpected and resilient some living creatures can be.
